Catalonia: The Disobedient Province

The Catalan National Assembly has now been campaigning in Catalonia for years, but also, even more intensely, beyond Spanish borders, in an attempt to establish Catalan foreign offices similar to embassies in a number of states. Exhorted to do so by the Assembly, Catalans formed a line earlier this year from the northernmost part of the region to the southwest, with more than 1.5 million people holding hands (“Via Catalana”). Now, their slogan is “Vía Llibre” (“free road”), a clear statement addressed at Madrid, where questioning the territorial integrity of Spain is still taboo. Catalan national assembly chair Jordi Sànchez stated recently that a majority for the Yes-alliance would be a momentous change. An absolute majority would be “unstoppable.”